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SPEECH 



HON. WILLIAM J. ALLEN, 



OF ILLINOIS, 



THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE, 



DELIVEIIZD 



IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, JANUARY 27, 1864 






'WASHINGTON, D. C. r 

PEINTKO AT TttB OJTICE OF "TUE CONSTUl TIONAL CMO-N," SO SJO X OTREia 

18I64* 



■A4l 



SPEECH 



The TTonfo beinrr in Committee of the Whole on 
the state of the Union — 

Mr. ALLEN said: 

Mr. Chairman : T propose to make some 
otservations upon the liit« aoDnal message of 
the PreBia.-nt. What I thiuk of it I shall say 
without prt-jude ; what I Injlievc of his notiou^i 
and purposes will not hn attended or followed 
by auy crinpinpr explanation or apolopy. I 
assert as my delib»'rate opinion that the mes- 
sage was prepared by the Prc?idfnt and those 
who actei a^ his immeHiato advisers with di- 
rect reference to a prolongation of tho war, 
atid that this desire to protract hostilities has 
for its objrct uo other or hifiber aim than the 
reprehen>iihle and criminal one of re-electing 
bimst'lf President, continuing the present 
party in power, and protrnctiug tlie existing 
reign of plntnler and robbery. By bis own 
words, and by declarations of his chief ad- 
risers, he stands convicted of criminal hy- 
pocrisy in regard to matters vital to the ex- 
istence of the country ; and now, having 
thrown olT those restraints which were for a 
wbila imposed alono by his timidity, he an- 
blashingly proclaims himself the arbiter of 
States, and as^nmes to deal with their go- 
vernments and tb'* rights and property of 
loyal people with a pway more crnel and des- 
potic than is claimed for any monarch or des- 
pot in the world. Kot content with violating 
his official and other pledge?, and a total dis- 
regard of the platform upon which be came 
into power, be has usurped the forbidden 
powers of the Constitution, and assumes to 
deal with individuals and States as though 
they were the plartlnngs of bis malice or 
mere fields of plunder for bis adherents. 

I shall pass by the causps of (he trar. With 
the executive department in bis hands, it 
proved inevitable. Though many believed ' 
that war, no matter bow produced, would in 
the then condition of tho public mind prove 
the grave of tho Republic, yet when the dire 
necessity came a very large rarjority of the 
people accepted the issue which rebellion had 
tendered, and lavishly offered tbeir blood and 
treasure to the c-ansc of the Government. And 
I assert that never, in ancient or modern 
times, were the issues of any war so clearly 
made or so sharply defined. On the one side 
was an open, bold, and organiz-d resistance 
to the lawful authority of the Federal Govern- 
ment ; on the other the military power of that 



Government was invoked for the purpose, the 
jo/e purpose, of putting down armed rt-bclliim 
and enforcing its rightful authority wl(.-rever 
it bad been obstructnd or oppos^d. I repeat 
that tbii wai the only issue, the sole purpose, 
for which, before tli.-"221 of Scptembor, 1 Still, 
a million soldiers had rallied beneath the llag 
of the Constitution. 

I said the Frosident and his advisers had 
been guilty of wilful decep'ion. I will make 
good the charge. It is true that in the at- 
tempt I shall submit nothing which should bo 
new to any meml>er present, nor can I hopn 
to excite evf^n a feeling of abame on the part 
of those who, though subordiuatf iu posi- 
tion, are in complicity with the I'rcridfut. 
Though less potential for mischief, th»-rc are 
present those who are bles.scd with better 
faculties and higher endowments than tho 
Prt'sideut, and who aro tbcrnforo no less 
guilty of tho wicked purposes which I iaputa 
to him. 

The object of war among civilized people 
should be pkacb. Wur as a means to any 
other end can nnver be justifi>'d. What, I re- 
peat, produced tho warf All men know it 
was armed resistance to the rigbtfnl autho- 
rity of the Government. What end and aim 
did Congress and the loyal people propose 
when they nnthoriaed the employment of the 
largest armifS of modern times f I,.'t Con- 
gress, the Executive, and bis r.dvlsprs an- 
swer; and when they have answered, let the 
unerring facts of history brand them as false- 
hearted trillers with the lives of t!ie brave 
men who are daily filling unnoticed graves ; 
and \ft patriots eTery\»here who still love 
constitutional liberty rise np, and by the 
powerful engine of the ballot, whi 'b des- 
potism cmnot now wrest from them, burl the 
present imbecile from power, and save the 
country, which at this moment is struggling 
in the agonies of et» rnal death. I omit, for 
the present, all reference to the Preridont's 
inaugural. When it was spoken hostilities 
had not be^un. 1 com" diwn to a later day, 
to the first battle of Bull Rin, at whi-h time 
Congress was in ?«ssion. B-^fore this the war 
had been regarded by public men of " the last 
dollar and last man" pcrsuision, an 1 by pc- 
soua who, however unsound on Chri;-f, were 
orthodox npiiu tho nigger, j*3 a mere holiday 
sport. 

Buggies, hack?, gigs. Jersey wagon?, males 
and horses were in demand at fabulous prices ; 



the road from Washington to Bull Ran was 1 
crowded with Senators and Repreaentative?, 
contradora end courtesau?, eanucbs aud 
strong minded women, all int«ut upon wit- 
nessing iLe impeLding rout of the rebels. The 
seqnel is known. Th« panic in this city 
among those who are now chiefd among the 
loyal leaguers will be long remembered by all 
■who thought the public safety would be pro- 
moted by retaining a quorum of members. 
"When th« panic wad over and Beauregard had 
failed to occupy the Capitol, the House of R:)- 
presentatives adopted the following resolution, 
introduced by the venerable and patriotic Crit- 
tenden, now no more, with but two dissent- 
ing votes: 

"That this war is not waged in any spirit of op- 
pression, or for any purpose of conquest or subju- 
gation, or purpose of overthrowing or interfering 
with the rights or established institutions of these 
btatcs, but ta defend and maintain thu supremacy 
of the Constitution and to p^c^e^ve the Union, with 
all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several 
Btatcs uniuipaircJ, and that ns soon as these objects 
are accomplished the war ought to cease." 

Immediately after the passage of this reso- 
lution, every approach to the Capitol was 
crowded with regiments and brigades who had 
tendered their services in a war to be con- 
ducted for the holy purpose avowed in that 
resolution. So great was tho rush to arms 
that, Ehortly thereafter, tho chairman of the 
Committee on Military Affairs in the Senate 
tad to announce that more troops were being 
offered than the Government could accept. 
And much more than this, the Union men of 
the South were cheered and strengthened by 
this formal assurance that they had been right 
in defending the President vhen charged by 
the rebela with designing a jrand John Brown 
raid upon the slave States, and the degrada- 
tion of the whites to the level of the negro. 
A short time afterwards a similar resolo.ion 
was submitted to the Senate by Andrew John- 
son, of Tennessee, aiid, my recollection is, 
unanimously adopted. But a few days before 
this, on the 4th day of July, 18G1, the Presi- 
dent spoke to Congress as follows : 

" Lest there bo some uneasiness in tho minds of 
candid men as to what is to be the course of tho 
Oovernmciit toward the Southern States after tho 
rebclHon shall have been suppressed, the Execu- 
tive deems it proper to say it will be his purjiose 
then, as over, to be guided by the Constitution and 
the laws ; and that ho probiibly will have no differ- 
ent understanding of the powers and duties of the 
Federal Government relatively to tho rights of the 
States and the people under tho Constitution thun 
that expressed in tho inaugural address, lie de- 
•ires to preserve the Government, that it may be 
administered for all, as it was administered by the 
men who made it. Loyal citizens everywhere have 
th» right to claim this of their Government; and 
the Government has no right to withhold or noglcet 
i(. It i.>- n<it perceived that, in giving it, thero is 
•ny coercion, any conciuest, or »uy sabjugatiou iu 
Uiy just .sense of those terms." 

Abmit tho same time, a member of the Cab- 
inet, lion. Caleb B. Smith, since deceased, 



proceeded to Providence, in the State of 
Rhode Island, and addressed to the public the 
following cheering words : 

"The theory of this Government is that the 
f tales are sov.ereign within their proper sphere. ■ 
Tho Government of the United Slates has no more 
right to interfere with the instuution of slavery in 
South Carolina than it has to interfere with the 
■p^-culiar institutions of Rhode Island, whose bene- 
fits I have enjoyed to-day. 

•• But, my friends, during the last summer, when 
the great political contest was raging throughout 
the Fand, then it was that designing and dishonest 
men, for tho purpose of accomplishing their own 
sellisb schemes, appealed to the jjrejudices of the 
Southern people, denouncing those who supporte I 
Mr. Lincoln as abolitionists; as men who would 
disregard the constitutional rights of the South, and 
transcend the powers of the G<jvernment. Excited 
by means of these iniquitous appeals, they were ready 
to fako arms to prevent tho inauguration of that 
President whom a majority of the people had de- 
clareil to be the man of their choice. 

"My friends, I have known the President long 
and well. It has been my fortune to be selected as 
ono of bis constitutional advisers. I have had tho 
honor of being connected with this Administratian 
since its commencomcut, and I tell you to-nigbt 
that you cannot find in South Caro'ina a man more 
anxiously, rclig'ously, aud scrupulously disposed 
to observe all the features of the Constitution re- 
lating to slavery than Abraham Lincoln." * • 

" My friends, wo make no war upon Southern in- 
stil itions. AV'c recognize the right of South Caro- 
lina and Georgia to hold slaves if they desire them. 
B:if, my friends, we appeal to you to uphold the 
great banner of our glorious country, and to leave 
tho people of that country to settle thtse domestio 
matters according to their own choice and the ex- 
igencies which the times may present." * » 

" Let New England rally promptly and earnest- 
ly, and I tell you rebellion will be crushed to the 
carih, and tbo stars and stripes will bo raised over 
a united country. Then we shall have peace. 
Peace will spread her benign influence over this 
land, and happiness be restored, bu?inoss revived) 
and tho blessings of a free Government enjoyed. 

" I do not invoke you to engage iu this war as a 
war ng^lin^t slavery. We arc warring for a differ- 
ent principle." ♦*«»*• 

" It is not tho province of the Government of the 
United States to enter into a crusada against the 
institution of slavery. I woulil proclaim t'* th« 
people of all the States of this Union tho right to 
manage their institutions in their own way. I 
know that my ffliow-citizens will recognize that as 
one fundamental principle upon which wo com- 
menced tills contest. Let us not give our oppo- 
nents uny reason to complain of us in this respect. 
Lotus not bring to bear upon them the power of 
despotism, but the power of the people of a repub- 
lican Government, where the people rule." 

It was in this spirit, and about the same 
time, that Mr. Seward, the Secretary of State, 
issued his instructions to our rcpreseutativeB 
abroad, iu which ho directed them to make 
public avowal of the purposes which would 
control tho Government in prosecuting the 
war. 

la hia dispatches to Mr. Dayton, our min- 
ister at ths court of St. Cloud, he used th« 
following language : 



f'Tbo framcrs of the Government, therefore, 
placed the entire control of slnvcry, os it was then 
existing, beyon>l the control of the Fcdcrnl author- 
ities, by leaving it to remain (<uhject to the exclu- 
sive manatccracot and disposition of the suveral 
States themselves, and fortified it there with a pro- 
vision for the return of fugitives Iruiii l.ihor and 
Bcrvice, and another securing an allowance ol 
three-fifths of nucli persons iu fixing tho basis of 
direct taxation and rcpresentalioa." 



" The condition of slavery in the several States 
\Till remain just tho saiuo whether it (the rebellion) 
succeed or tail. There xt not even a pretext for 
tho compl.iint that tho disaffected States iirc to he 
conquered by the United Staes if iho revolution 
fail ; for tho riijhts of tho States, and the condition 
of every human being in them, will remain xuliject I 
to exactly tho snno laws and forms of administra- 1 
tion, whether tho revolution shall succeed or I 
whether it shall fail. In the one w^se, tlio States 
will bo federally connected with tho new confeder- 
acy; in tho other, they would, as now, bo members 
of the United States; but their constitutions iind 
laws, cust >ms, habits, and institutions ia either 
case will remain the same. 

'' It is hardly necessary to adil to this incontes- 
tible statement the further fact that the new I'resi 
dent, as well as tho citizens throuch whoso suf- 
frages ho has come into tho Ailuiinistration, has al- 
ways repudiated a'.l designs whatever and wherever 
imputed to him and them of disturbing the system 
of slavery as it is existing under tho Constitution 
and laws. Tao case, however, would not bo fully 
presented if I wero to omit to say that any such 
effort on his part would be unconstitutional, and all 
his actions in that direction would bo prevented by 
the judicial authority even though tbcy wore as- 
sented to by Congress and the people." — Instruc- 
tions to Mr. Daytou in IS61. 

Mr. Chairman, I might consame my hoar in 
producing the proofs of tUc falsehood and per- 
fidy of those who thus deceived and betrayed 
the people of th<« North, and insulted and ex- 
asperated the Union men of the Isouth. 

What other evidence is needed of this 
shameless perfidy than the fact that the 
murderous adherents of John Brown, and the 
rehel adherents of JctTcrson Davis were made 
glad ? For so soon as the President avowed 
his purpose to change tho war to one of cru 



sade against slavery, of plunder and extermi- 
nation, the apostles of Brown and the disciples 
of Davis were heard in mingled strains of joy 
and gladness. Each hoped and believed that 
the Presideuchad rendered a restoration of 
the Union impossible. Each being disunion- 
ists per se, each could afford to rejoice at every 
crime and blunder which paralyzed the arm 
of those who struggled and fought for peace 
and a reunited country. The effect of con- 
verting tho war into a struggle for the free- 
dom of the n-'gro and tho subversion of the 
slave States has unmistakably been to prolong 
end intensify the contest; and in that contest, 
while the South may ba victims of the torch 
and the sword ; while those who gladly wel- 
comed the flag may be robbed of their proper- 
ty, and compelled to starve or swear to b>- 
oome the slaves of Lincoln, in the free and 
populous North the seeds of corruption aod 



tyranny are begioning to bring forth their 
baleful fruits. Even here almc.st fvey house 
except the habitations of contractors and abj- 
litionista has l)ccocne the abode ( f bereave- 
ment, oftfu of dfHolition ; tixatioji is grind- 
iig all classes except the pett«d plnnderr^rs of 
the (lovt-rument ; and while national and in- 
4ividual baiihraptcy ia Impending, a more 
terrible doom is apprehen«led and i..aitd. We 
canr.o: shut our eyes to tho fact that iLc elec- 
tive franchise is eudangort-d. We have seen 
tho rights of the people usurped in .Maryland 
and 1) laware oud in p;irti')ns of Kentucky. 
Wo have seen their constitutions and laws 
snppendfd by tho edicts of the I'rt-sideut and 
his minions, the ballot box trampled juto the 
dust, and tho Blavish creatures of his favorit- 
ism foisted into ofhce and honor, not to rep- 
resent tho interests or the voice of tho people 
of those States, not to di-chargo the duties 
incident to the olBcoi whi( h they obtained by 
a combination of fraud and force, but to regis- 
ter and assist ia executing the decrees of a 
master, whoso slaves, violator of the Constitu- 
tion as he is, they are totally unworthy to l>«. 
When this terribl« issue is presented to the 
people of tho free North next fall, as 1 am 
sure it will be, then we will see the brtgin^ 
aing of tho end. Every barricade which 
cruelty or malignity may erect between the 
voter and the ballot-box will be removed ; 
the corrupt infttruraent-i of so mrnstrona a 
proceeding, whether black or while, whether 
mere provost marshals or msjor generals, will 
find tho people of one Stato, at lea^t, more 
anxious to preserve the purity of the ballot- 
box than the carcasses of those who may seek 
to enslave them. The late message, fairly 
construed, amounts to an unblushinj avowal 
of this despotic intent. It is true that the 
purpose is at present avowed with reference 
only to the rebellious States ; but the Presi- 
dent has assumed to attach a condition to the 
right of suffrage there, which he may at any 
time as rightfully apply to the State in which 
I live. I do not now discuss the terms which 
he offers to rebels in arms. The ouiy answer 
most of them will make to his proposals is 
that of dkfiance. I allude to the fact that 
he denies the lo>/al men of the South the right 
of suffrage ; and asserts that they who hare 
committed no crime shall have no legal or po- 
litical rights unless they will first subscribe to 
a degrading oath, an oath so slavish that we 
may rightfully assume that it will be ev?xi- 
ed or disregarded by many of those wLo may 
subscribe to its terms. But I ask whence 
comes the President's power thus to deal with 
loyal men who have violated no law, and con- 
sequently forfeited no rights of person or pro- 
perty ? We can all understand bow the loyal 
men of the South may lose their properly. 
The armies which were created for the sola 
purpose of vindicating the law are statioaecl 
in the South ; the President is " Comtnauder- 
in-Chief," and he has grown fond of issuing 
imperial decrees which that Army is com- 
manded to enforce. Almost «verj officer o( 



Independence of cLaracter, who lias exhibited 
the slighteat repugnance to executing his de- 
crees, has, when blandishments failel to se- 
duce him, heen dismissed the service in a 
manner designed to insure his disgrace. Why, 
then, should the l^resident fe^r lo issue an 
edict as sweeping and unrelenting as the torch 
of Omar ; and by which, at one dash of the 
pen, he attempted to destroy property valued 
at $2,Uu0,li00,(.00, and that too, without refer- 
ence to the sex, age, condition, or opinions of 
its owners? 

The press had been muzzled ; Congress had 
become the mere register of his will; the 
loyal people of the South were either within 
rebel or Federal lines. Iso protest weuld be 
heard or heeded, while corrupt creatures 
might ev;.-'rywhere be found to liattcr the au- 
thor of such unpardonable maladministration. 
Or why then should we marvel that he who 
affected scorn for the Pope's bull against the 
comet should now claim mastery over the 
minds and consciences of men ; nor be deter- 
red from demanding of those who execrate his 
name and memory an oath — a solemn oath — 
to be true to his bulls hurled at sc/ereign 
States and the deep convictions of a majority 
of the people ? I repeat that the President 
proposes terms to the loyal people of the South 
which all sensible mt-n must know that they 
will regard as degrading. The jackals who 
follow the Army for the purposes of plunder 
are no part of the Southern people ; and the 
Loyal Leagues which they may form within 
military posts I do not take into the account. 
Nor do I allude to those excrescences upon the 
political and military system known as "mili- 
tary governors" — such adventurers upon the 
hazard of a terrible civil war as Johnson of 
Tennessee, and Hamilton of Texas. They 
have been selected, I suppose, to " govern" 
those who hate them, just as eunuchs are ap- 
pointed to guard the harem. Each excites 
the disgust of those who are compelled to en- 
dure their presence. 

But, Mr. Chairman, the highest degree of 
Iniquity in the President's bull against slave- 
ry and 'state rights, is to be found, perhaps, 
in his requirement of the same terms of the 
loyal men of the South to retain their rights, 
as' are tendered to the vilest rebels in the land 
as the conditions upon which theirs may be 
regained. Take, for example the State of 
Tennessee. More than sixty thousand free- 
men of that State refused to vote for the ordi- 
nance of secession. About forty thousand vo- 
ted against tlie secession of the State, although 
a large portion of it was occupied by rebel 
troops, and every means \ras used to overawe 
the ptople. That State hes now one of its 
citizens upon the supreme bench. It has fur- 
nished over thirty thousand troops to the 
Government. Yet these soldiers, and other 
loyal people of that State, are to be disfran- 
chised unless tbey will take the oath pre- 
scribed by the President lor armed rebels. I 
repeat, if these terms can be imposed upon the 
loyal people of Tennessee by the President, 



why may be not require the same t'ling of the 
people of Idi'iois ? Imagine, if you pleise, 
General Bu ler swearing in the chivalry in 
that hall at Charleston in which for so many 
days in 1S60 he alone, of all the men of New 
England, voted for his friend Jefi'trir.n Davis 
for President, in the hope of deit^ating the 
great Douglas by dividing the Democratic 
party sufficiently to make a victory of aboli- 
tionism certain, and thereby furnish a hollow 
pretext for Davis, Yancey & Co. to secede. 
Or, if you prefer it, go to Kuoxville and wit- 
ness the ministrations of Parson Brownlow 
while swearing in the Unijn men of East Ten- 
nessee — the true Union men who rcfuB^d so 
long to swear fealty to Jclf. Davis. They will 
hardly degrade themselves by kneeling side 
by side with their rebel persecutors, and 
swearing fealty to Lincoln and all his pro- 
clamations in regard to slavery. 

There is a building in Knoxvillf*, I am told, 
in which, in June, i860, that reverend cham- 
pion of " Honest Abe" penned end published 
an appeal to the people of Tennessee to rally 
against Lincoln, the Abolitionist, and Uamlin, 
whose color was suggestive of a ''free negro." 
In that building we will imagine him holding 
his highcourt of political expurgation. We can 
almost see him now as he opens the proceedings 
with prayer. Behind the reverend operator 
in Greek and hell fire may be seen the heroie 
but saintly face of Horace llnynard, whi!ethe 
martial form of Brigadier Gdueral Andrew 
Johnson, in full military dress, glows as 
brightly as when he wrote his letter to Abra- 
ham, assuring him of General Buell's treason. 
We can almost hear them no;v calling for 
mourners, and administering Lincoln's oath. 
No doubt those sturdy mountaineers will, on 
bended knees, solemnly swear to " abide by 
and faithfully support all proclamations of the 
President made during the rebellion having 
reference to slaves." Mr. Chairman, at any 
other time such mockery would excite only 
that pity which we feel for the mummeries of 
the i-asane, and that contempt which fills us 
for those who engage only in works of sacri- 
lege. But the times are too perilous, 
the issues too grave, to be passed thua 
lightly by. And this is the medicine, this 
the great panacea which is offered as the re- 
storer of a dismembered Union. And there 
are those who profess to find in this silly pro- 
ceeding a " wise plan" for bringing peace to 
a distracted and bleedin» country. It does 
not rise to the dignify of respectable mad- 
ness ; it is too weak and contemptible for the 
epithet of imbecility. Sir, by what process 
are freemen not in the laud or navel service 
of the country to be deprived of lifo, liberty, 
or property ? ' Before the Constitution became 
obsolete the answer would have been, only by 
'^ clue procfss of law" after ^'prcscnlnttnt or in- 
dictment of a grand jury." But in this age of 
political prostitution aud iudisoriminate rob- 
bery, we liud that estates are conli-cated witb- 
out'indictment or trial; and, finally, the right 
of suffrage, the surest safeguard and final de- 



fence of a free people, is to be taken away by 
one who 13 beneath all the nsnrpcrs hewonld 
imitate in everything save in his disiageuaoas 
spirit. The usurpation is too monstrous to be 
defend^^d by any one who has justclainnto 
manhood, and in fact I am per.-iuad>-d limls 
but few defenders eave among the corrupt and 
slavish menials who arc unlit to be free. And 
this is the man whom my colleague [Mr. Ar- 
uoldT associates in argument with the Saviour 
of mankind, lie reads an extract from the 
irrepressible conllict speech which Lincoln 
made some years ago, and exclaims : 

"This, tho first cmphatio onuncialion of thophi- 
losophieal fact of ilio antagonism between lilM'.rty 
and slavery, the eternal lund ' irrepressiblu' conllict 
between theiu, clootrificd tho country, nnd ma.io 
Abraham Lincoln Prci-idont of tho United Slates." 

"When the Son of God proclairaod a common 
Father and tho universal brotherhood of man, Ho 
enuneiiitcd tho great moral prineipio which brought 
on tho irreprcssihlo conllict with slavery." 

Here he informs us that Christ only "enun- 
eiiitcd the great moral principle which Iruutjht on 
this irrepressible cunjiict," whilu it was reserved 
to Lincoln eighteen centuries thereafter to 
make "the Jlrst emphatic enunciation of the phi- 
losophical fact of the antagonism bcticcen liberty 
and slavery,^' which ho graciously tells us 
"electrified the country and made Abraham 
Lincoln President of the United States." I 
protest ajrainst this robbery of the illustrious 
dead. What will John Brown's ghof^t say 
when that apostle of bloody pikes finds him- 
self thus unceremoniously kicked out of the 
company of Christ to give the seat of honor to 
the saintly form of Abraham ? What will 
Jeanison and Montgomery say ? Lincoln had 
not so much as burned a barn upon the Mis- 
souri border, when saintly frcedom-shriekers, 
now occupying high stations, civil and mili- 
tary, were holding up their bloody hands for 
favor at tho orgies held over successful rob- 
beries, murders, and assassinations. What 
will Fremont and Hunter say ? It was they 
to whom was first revealed the saving grace 
of proclamations of freedom. What will some 
of the sanctimonious constituents of my col- 
league say when they remember their pious 
pilgrimage from Chicago to Washington ; and 
how, while they implored a proclamation in 
the name of God, Abraham was too carnal- 
minded to grant it ? What will be said by tho 
bolder pioneers in the "irrepressible conflict" 
who are now languishing in the peHitentiaries 
for negro-stealing ? They were brave enough 
to commence the work of emancipation with- 
out purse or scrip, each for himself, and soli- 
tary and alone, while Abraham could not come 
up to the good work until he thought himself 
backed by an Army of a million of armed sol- 
diers and sustained by the prayers of whole 
divisions of contractors and contrabands. If 
any one is to be placed before Christ, let it be 
John Brown or Montgomery or Jennisou. 
Even ray other colleague from the Bureau dis- 
trict [Mr. Lovejoy] has antecedents in this 
regard entitling him to a higher seat than our 



distinguished Chief Magistrate. deriously, 
Mr. Chairman, when my colleague [Mr. Ah- 
hold] again preceeds to enlighten us as to the 
pedigree* of these illustrious reformers, I hopo 
he will reconcile the commanil of our Saviour, 
that servants should bo "obedient to their 
mastf-rs," with tho injunction of Brown, Lin- 
coln & Co., which requires masters to be obe- 
dient to their slaves. But a few days aeo, a 
Norfolk correspondent of the Nt-w Y'ork I'mut 
wrote as follows in regard to a negro raid which 
(teneral Butler caused to be made into ^■o^th 
Carolina : 

"Tho material results of tho raid may bo »am» 
mod up as follows : Between two and three thon-fand 
slaves were released from bnndajro, with whom 
wore taken along about thre<! hundred ntid fifty ox, 
horso, nnd mulo toamji, and from fifty to seventy- 
five saddle-horses, anmo of them valuable animals. 
Tho guorrilloa lost thirte«u killed and wounded ; tea 
dwelling hoU!<08, with many thousand bu.'-hcia of 
Corn belonging to them, were burned, be.-ides two 
dijtillerios ; four of tho camps were doitro>eJ, and 
one of their numbor wa.s hanged ; and one hundred 
rifles, uniforms, infantry equipments, Ac., Tell into 
our hands as spoils, with a loss on the part of tho 
brigade of twelve killed and wounded and one man 
tatcn prisoner. Besides this, fourteen rebel prison- 
ers and four hostages wore brought in. 

"In regard to its moral and political rciulta, 
however, tho importance of tho raid cannot bo over- 
estimated. Tho counties invaded by tho colored 
troojis were completely panic-stricken. Scores of 
famdics, for no causo but a guilty conscience, fled 
into tho swamps on thiir approach. Never was a 
region thrown into sueh a commotion by a raid be- 
fore. Proud scions of chivalry, accustomed to claim 
tho most abject obedienco from th«ir slaves, literal- 
ly fell on their knees before theso armed and uni- 
formed blacks and begi;ed for their lives. I was 
frenuently asked how I, a citizen, dared to trust 
myself among such incarnate demons. ' What shall 
I do to be saved ?' was tho question aakcd on every 
side." 

Mr. Chairman, the faith of any one must bo 
weak indeed if, after reading the many glow- 
ing accounts of expeditions, of which this is a 
specimen, they do not regard the war as over, 
and the people of both sections ready to cm- 
brace and forgive each other. We are told 
that the guerrillas lost in killed and v/ounded 
the immense number of thirteen, while our 
victorious army burned only ten habitaiions I 
But the greatest satisfaction is felt when we 
are assured by the writer that "in regard to 
its moral and political results, however, the 
importance of the raid cannot be overestima- 
ted." Certainly they cannot. " Scores of 
families" " fled into the swamps on their ap- 
proach." The President, no doubt, feels well 
assured that those "proud scions of chivalry" 
who so abjectly "fell on their knees before 
these armed and uniformed blacks and be,TBed 
for their lives," exclaiming "What shall I 
do to be paved" will not hesitate in the pres- 
ence of these armed negroes to take th ^ oath 
he has so magnanimously prescribed. 0( one 
thing, that they will ke-p an oath administer- 
ed under such circumstances, ho can feel no 
doubt. Ilia rigid adherence to bis own oaths 



8 



will cause him to suspect no meatal reserva- 
tion in others. This raid, Mr. Chairman, is 
but a specimen of the movements which have 
characterized many of our military operations 
during the past year in the valley of the Mis- | 
sissippi, and especially in the department of I 
the Gulf. Plunder, wholesale and indiscrimi- 1 
nate, upon the loyal and disloyal alike, if we 
may believe the correspondence published in 
our own papers, and information derived from 
other reliable sources, has been so common 
and conducted upon a scale so vast that it has 
become no longer a matter of surprise. It U 
perpetrated in every form, under the sem- 
blance of trade regulations, impressments by 
pretended levies upon the disloyal, and by 
military orders which afford sufficient pretexts 
for those whose choice pursuit is plunder. It 
is true that we hear occasionally that such 
men as Butler and Curtis have been suspend- 
ed ; but the hungry cormorants who seek 
plunder, and know they can obtain it under 
the auspices of such men, are not long in hav- 
ing them rcstorud to commands where their 
cupidity may be gratified. The robberies un- 
der the reign of Butler at New Orleans have 
been so palpable as to shock the sensibilities 
of mankind. No prizo was too great, no in- 
ducement too small for his enterprise. From 
the State capitol to the grave yard, from the 
parlor to the kitchen, his grasping hand was 
extended. All accounts agree that thitgs have I 
been done at New Orleans under the flag of' 
our country which if not disavowed will dis- 
grace the Government in all coming time. I 
will mention one instance as it was published 
in the New Orleans Era. That paper is the 
organ of the Administration there — the most 
of its articles are headed " by anthority." I 
•will read the Era^s report. It is in the follow- 
ing words : 

" CONFISCATIOS OF TOMBSTONES." 

" There was one splendid monument — a, stately 
column or pyramid, intended to mark the spot 
whero rest the remains of Colonel Charles D. Dreux, 
the youthful orator who fell early in tho war in 
command of a confederate battalion. This was 
constructed at a cost of $1,500, and under tho ham- 
mer of tho auctioneer it brought but Si 00. Cheap 
monument, if the purchaser intended it for his own 
tomb. There was another monument equal in size 
and beauty which brought only thirty dollars. 
Tombstones sold as cheap as marble." ^., ^., 

The whole world is familiar with the plun- 
der of costly mansions and large estates, with 
robberies of churches and public institutions. 
From these we turn to the pnblic bale of a 
dead man's tombstone. Nothing seemed too 
high or low for the robber's grasp. The re- 
sult is that, instead of a restoration of law 
and order, the country occupied by our armies 
has in many instances been given over to pil- 
lage and plunder ; and they who watched the 
approach of our proud old flag as the harbin- 
ger of peace, loek now only upon a ruined 
country and a pillaged people. The just and 
considerate portion of our people will remem- 
ber the barbarities, the shameless robberies 



of this man who so suddenly rose frr-- ■ . 
ranks of his original secession friends to the 
grade of major general of volunteers ; nor 
will they forget that his fame rests more upon 
his persecutions of the unarmed and un- 
ofl'ending than the terror he has caused among 
the rebels in the field. It is now nearly three 
years since he donned the Federal uniform. 
During that time he has planned Big Bethel 
and other similar disasters ; bat he has never, 
I believe, been in personal danger, or a party 
to the most unimportant skirmish, although 
by alleged violations of the laws of civilized 
warfare he has won for himself the outlawry 
of our enemies. This has been his chief mil- 
itary distinction ; and now, after a year of re- 
pose in New England, we find him appointed 
to an important command in Virginia and 
North Carolina. With a cruelty quickened 
by public exposure, with his avarice stimula- 
ted by the success of former pillaging, and 
with a slavish subserviency to those whoso 
motives he denounced for many years of his 
life, he is turned loose upon a rebellions peo- 
ple, who, whatever their sins may bo, are at 
least sincere in regarding him as a monster. 
And when a few days ago a member from 
New York [Mr. Fernando Wood] submitted a 
resolution culling for a committee to inquire-* 
into his conduct, the Republican members of 
this House, aided by one of the President's 
military appointees from Kentucky, [Mr. An- 
DEKSON,] voted to suppress the investigation ; 
and it was suppressed, and this man whose 
career is coupled with so many crimes is as- 
sured of immunity, and launches again with 
renewed license upon additional fields of plun- 
der. 

You may declaim as you will of your anxi- 
ety for peace, but with the President's pro- 
gramme of subjugating whole peoples and 
subverting the governments of States, and 
with such men as Butler despoiling whole 
communities in the name of confiscation, we 
cannot believe you sincere ; and if sincere, it 
but demonstrates the utter unfitness of the 
party in power either to conduct tho war or 
administer the Government in times of pro- 
foundest peace. I know that in calling atten- 
tion to these things I shall be accused by paid 
officials and hired sycophants of sympathy for 
the rebel cause. The fate of all who have 
hitherto spoken boldly of the public perils, or 
darod to arraign the motives and conduct of 
the Administration, warns me that I need not 
hope to escape the tide of calumny which is 
ever in reserve for the defenders of constitu- 
tional liberty. I have counted well the cost 
of these things, and am prepared for the onset. 
Claiming to be a Union man, I am so uncon- 
ditionally. I have been so consistently and 
persistently ever since the firing upon Fort 
Sumter, whatever censure I have cast upon 
those who conld and ought to have avoided 
the war ; and here in my place do I arraign 
the President and the supporters of his in- 
sane policy as willing or mistaken instruments 
oi disunion. Doubtless some are so, because 



they do not perceive the fatal tendencips of 
the policy to which they adhere ; but the con- 
test is now no les3 with armed rebels than with 
those who avow their purpose to change or de 
stray that Union which is the creature alone 
of the Constitution. They are, wherever 
found, traitors of the basest kind. Destitute, 
as they know themselves to be, of principle 
or personal eoura^'e, they are prompt in the 
presence of provost marshals and military 
guards to ejVct their spleen upon those who 
adhere to the Constitution. They are im- 
perious and insulting now because their n-ias- 
t^T is near ; but their cowardice is too patent 
to be disguised, and the "stop thief" cry 
of treason which they impute to others will 
not always shield them from personal expo- 
LUre and chastisement. 

Those who are now loudest in shouting ' * loy- 
alty" have spent long years in teaching trea- 
son to the people of the North. Their per- 
sonal cowardice alone restrained them from 
open rebellion, but their teachings and prin- 
ciples were in all respects as treasonable as 
the ravings of the vilest secessionists in the 
land. Chase. Sumner, Phillips, Beecher, Fred. 
Douglass, Wade, Seward, John Brown, and 
most other representative men of the Repub- 
lican party, have advocated the higher law 
doctrine of the rebellion for the last teu or 
fifteen years, and one of them has had the 
courage to make practical application of his 
principles. I allude, of course, to John Brown, 
who suddenly rose from the level of a horse- 
thief to the dignity of a Kepublican god, and 
who is now accepted by the President and his 
adherents as the prince of Republicans, a type 
of the true Chi istian reformer and "loyalist." 
I, sir, denounce the heretical teachings which 
caused John Brown to make his murderous 
foray upon Ilnrper's Ferry, just as I do the 
rebellious teachings which caused the attack 
on Fort Sumter. Brown acted under a pro- 
visional government in antagonism to that of 
the United States; so did Davis and Stephens; 
Harper's Forrj belonged to the United States, 
60 did Fort Sumter ; Earper's Ferry was reta- 
ken by the military forces of the United States, 
Fort Sumter should have been reduced long 
ago ; it would have been, had operations there 
been directed to a reduction of the fort in- 
stead of establishing free negro colonies at 
liilton Ilead and Port Royal. John Brown 
was made prisoner, tried for murder and trea- 
son, fouud guilty, and hanged. Davis may be 
when he is captured or surrenders. Who, 
then, I a.-k, dared openly defend the crimes 
of John Brov.n i Only a few of the bolder 
fanatics who, like Wendell Phillips, had avow- 
ed themselves disunionists from the first. 
Who sing hosannas to his memory now ? At 
least three fourths of the Black Republican 
party, and the whole of that numerous class 
of paid stipendiaries and placemen who dis- 
grace the press and the oflBces of the coun- 
try. The rebels have never showered half 
80 many honors upon their dead or living 
leaders as you have upon this old murderer 



wVom you venerate simply because he was a 
traitor. 

The soldiers who volunteered for the sole 
purpose of putting down rebellion and vindi- 
cating the law are often forced to mari.h among 
the women and children of the South, who are 
too often insulted and plundered by the bad 
spirit and pillaging propensity which seem to 
enter so largely into the policy upon which 
this war is to bo conducted ; and thoy who 
impatiently listened for the airs and anthems 
which once told of union and nationality, 
often hear only from negro soldiers doggrel 
praises of John Brown ami his murderous 
crew. The uniform v/hich is the badge of a 
gentleman and the ensign of honor is worn 
now by depraved negroes whoso instincts are 
aliHOst as low and brutal as those at whose 
instance the profession of arms has been dis- 
graced. The proud, brave, and patriotic white 
soldier, who left home, family, business, and 
everything in order to Cght for and, if neces- 
sary, die for a restoration of all the States to 
the Union, is, by the present military policy, 
degraded to a level with the ignorant and bru- 
tal negro ; and if he complain is punished, 
and his officer who may chance to share with 
him in his complaints is dishonorably (that's 
the word they use) dismissed the service. 
And these things, Mr. Chairman, are done by 
those iatoleraut lealots who would brand the 
defenders of the Constitution with such epi- 
thets as " traitor' ' and ' ' copperhead I " I re- 
peat, sir, I am among the unconditional Union 
men of the country. 

Jefferson Davis and his adherents who 
sought to destroy the Union by dismember- 
ment are traitors to the Constitution ; but 
they were bold enough to avow their purposes, 
to appeal to the sword, and risk the dreadful 
consequences of their crimes. Their followers 
may have been wicked or misguided, but they 
made the issue boldly, and have so far met the 
consequences like brave and fearless men. I 
repeat, they are traitors ; and to the laws of 
war first, and of the United States afterwards, 
they are amenable ; but they are not the only 
traitors to the Constitution with whom we 
have to struggle. They may he honest and 
misguided, but throughout the entire North 
they are numbered by the thousand and tens 
I of thousands ; and here, here among the rep- 
I resenatives of the people, are to be found do»- 
ens and scores who are as disloyal and trea- 
sonable to the Constitution as are the oldest 
and most hardened rebels in the South. It is 
with you as well as with the rebels of the 
South that the unconditional Union men have 
to deal. Jeflerson Davis professed to be a 
Union man, but only upon his terms ; but the 
unconditional Union men of the country re- 
jected his conditions, aud pointing to the Con- 
stitution they said, " We will have no terms 
but the Constitution as it is, no Union but that 
which it made." Sumner, Cha«e, Lincoln, 
Beecher, and all the leading spirits of this 
Administration profess to be Union men ; but 
like the original secessionists of the South 



10 



thej are so only upon their own terms. What [ warned they will not wait to he told to pre- 
are those terms ? Indiscriminate robhery by pare. They are ready now ; impatient for 
military confiscation, and the subversion of the hour when, with that weapon which is 



the pov.'.rnments of almost half the States of 
the Union ; convening them into territoiifil 
dependencies, changing the whole structure 
of the Federal Government, and ruling mil- 
lions of people by standing armies and the 
sword. Such men, I repeat, are disunionists. 
Too cowardly to avow their purpose at the 
beginningof the war, they now seek to use 
the men and money 
suppression of the rebellion to overthrow the in 
Btitutions which all departments of the Gov- 
ernment stood pledi^ed to maintain. 

For myself, while I reject the terms of the 
rebels, I turn with equal disdain from the no 
less treasonable conditions; of those who seek 
unconstitutionally to overthrow the rights of 
individuals and of States. lu my opinion, 
those who adhere to the cause of Jefferson 
Davisarenomoretreasouableia theiraimsthan 
those who would apotheosize old John Brown, 
or join Fred. Douglas and Sumner in their 
schemes to annihilate the States of the South 
and obliterate them froin the map of the world. 
Upon this issue, thus forced upon the loyal 
people, the battle of the Constitution is soon 
to be fought. Upon the result hangs a na- 
tion's existence. The forces are being mar- 
shaled for the fray. The ides of November 
will end the throes and agonies of an imperiled 
country, or the dead corpse of the Constitu 



"formidable to tyrants only," they may speak 
peare to an agonizing people, reunion to a torn 
and dismembered country. 

And why, I as>k, should not the people 
everywhere array themselves upon the side 
of the Constitution? Those who talk of peace 
upon any other terms than the preservation 
of the Constitution, pure and simple, and a re- 
union of the States und< 
heart to that instrument, with whom I make 
no terms here or elsewhere. Upon all such, 
arguments are thrown away, but the people, 
the real people everywhere, those upon whom 
the burdens of the war fall most fearfully; 
whose industry is paralyzed by taxation, and 
whose homes, day by day, are being desolated, 
are impatient for the end of this unnatural 
struggle. It would be ended before the return 
of spring if common sense were allowed to 
control our rulers for a day. The people are 
not unmindful of the blessings of peace ; they 
have felt the horrors of war ; and they know 
t.hat any peace;, based upon the supremacy of 
the Constitution and followed by a reunion of 
the States, will be no less honorable to them- 
selves than beneficial to them and their pos- 
terity. But the subjugation and degradation 
of live millions of free men cannot result in 
peace. A temporary truce you may have ; a 
sullen silence may reign in a land made dcso- 



tion and the liberties of the people will have late by fire and sword ; the hoof of the Federal 



found a sepulcher. The issue is vastly more 
important than the gravest which has yet 
been submitted to any portion of mankind. 
Trained, as I have been, to be ever hopeful of 
the good fortunes of my country, I will «ot 
now despair. The frightful corruption and 
bold usurpations of this Administration I will 
hope have not affected the integrity and pat- 
riotism of the mass of the people. This Capi- 
tol, from whence the stream of profligacy, ve- 
nality, and corruption is issued, I trust is not 
at all symtomatic of a general relaxation of 
public morality. Always confident of the 



horseman may press every foot of rebel soil, 
but there will be no peace. It will be a nation 
of permanent malcontents ; and while the hand 
of social and political inequality rests upon 
them, the fires of vengeance will burn in every 
hea't, and the flames of rebellion will again 
light up the land. None of us need be ignorant 
of the temper and character of the people who 
are in arms. T&ey are of the same race as 
ourselves. Th«iy were born free, and have 
been taught principles of Anglo-Saxon liberty 
in the same schools with us. AVhile we may 
abhor the treason which first impelled their 



honesty and intelligence of the people, I will leaders and deplore the delusion which nerves 



not despair of them now when such momen- 
tous issues are at stake. Knowing as they 
do that all our past greatness and glory re- 
sulted from adherence to the Constitution, they 
will cling the more closely t» it now when 
dangers are thickening on every side. Their 
forbearance will be sorely tried. Every ob- 
struction which usurpation can erect will im- 



the arms of their followers, we cannot shut 
our eyes to the fact that the great body of them 
have been sincere. It is evidenced by their 
patient endurance and terrible courage, their 
trials and sufferings, and the tenacity with 
which they cling to a desperate contest. I am 
not alone in this estimate of rebel heroism. 
I will remind those who declare it treasonable 



pede their efforts ; but they will never yield I to find anything to admire in the character of 
the right of suffrage while life remains. In [ a foe, that more than I have said was admitted 
every Northern State, with two or three hu- during the last year by one sufficiently fanat- 
miliating exceptions, a majority of the people ' ical to pass as orthodox, oven among contrao- 
are lovers of the Union, and will array them- ; tors or contrabands. Loyal Leaguers or Free 
selves upon the side of that Constitution by Lovers. During the last year the Reverend 
which it was made. Amid long suffering they I Uenry Ward Beeehor published an article in 
hava exhibited patience ; should force be in- ] his newspaper, the Indtptndent, in which he 
vokr'd to drive them from the polls, they will ! said : 

manifest the spirit of men who know their « !„ jyiothcr column of our paper Mr. Greeley 
rights and have the courage to maintain them, expresses his opinion that the war draws to ncloee, 
Tjiey have teen already warned, and being • and that this year will probably see it ended. Ilo 



11 



does not give the facts on which such judgment is 
based, and it must bo regarded as the impref.-ion 
produced by -tho whole course of events, and their 
present condition, upon his mind. 

'•But judsments of this kind are but little more 
than tho reflection of personal temperament. Op- 
posite opinions will bo formed in view of tho same 
facts, by two men equally wise, simply because one 
is sanguine, and dwells upon tho hopeful aspects, 
while tho other, cautious and slow of belief, weighs 
the difficulties and dangers. 

" We can see how the war easily might be short, 
and that it mny bo near its close. But wo sec with 
equal clearness that it may be protracted for several 
years to come. Nor is it in tho power of any man 
at present to jndgo which of tho two possible 
courses events will show. 

"Wo see no subatantinl evidence that the Pouth 
is yet discouraged. What legislature, convention, 
or influential man, even, has uttered a desponding 
word ? The spirit of tho people is not broken. 
With a few exceptions, tho intelligent prisoners 
who are taken hold one larguage, and that is of 
firm, resolute, bitter determination to resist to the 
uttermost. Nor can wc learn that those who stay 
at home, and who suffer great deprivations, aro 
weary or discouraged. Even when hunger drives 
women to riot and violence, it is remarkable that 
they dem.and 'bread,' but never 'peace !' Indeed, 
wo are free to say that wo cannot repress our ad- 
miration of tho conduct of tho southern people in 
this terrible struggle. It needs only a v.'orthy causo 
to bo regarded as heroic. They seek to establj.^h a 
detestable sj-stem of slavery. They seek for that 
end tho overthrow of a beneficial Government. 
Their causo is as bad as it well can be. Neverthe- 
less, they have given up all things for what they 
regard as their country. They have relinquished 
luxuries, submitted to hardship?, suffered bereave- 
ments and losses, not only without murmuring, but 
eagerly ; and after two years of trials that may be 
6aid almost to have revolutionized tho interior of 
southern society, and reduced them to the minimum 
of comfort, they are undiscouragcd. They are oven 
more fierce and bitter than ever." 

Sir, every candid man knows tlaat this is a 
correct representation of th« rspirit of our 
enemic:'. It is still unbroken i} and if this 
Goverument persists in rejecting those moral 
agencies which should accompany tho sword, 
other sanguinary battles must be fought, in 
which the slaughter will be commensurate 
with the heroism of the combatants. That 
heroism is the birthright of all American peo- 
ple. Do not wisdom and humanity require 
that such a people should be won back to al- 
legiance rather than driven to that resistance 
which is the desperate offspring of despair ; 
and that our own bravo soldiers should be re- 
stored to their families and friends, rather 
than be further sacriliced to the designs of 
those who would protract the war for plunder | 
or power ? Each party to the contest has ex- 
hibited that courage and endurance which will , 
illustrate our annals in all coming time. Each i 
can boast of its heroes. I would to Heaven 
each had fewer martyrs to mourn. Every- 
where the prayers of millions arc being offered I 
up for a return of peace. There is scarcely a | 
rude hamlet in the land in which the cry of l 
Borrow is not heard ; not a household without i 
its seAts made vacant by the destroying hand ' 



I of war ; not a village which is not Bbrouded 
I in the drapery of woe, because of sons and 
I brothers, husbands and fathers, numbered 
I among the absent or slaiu. Arc net these 
I things alone suilicient to incliue our hearts to 
peace, and to causo us to seek it wherever it 
may be with honor found ? Uh who in thia 
hour of impending peril refu-jcs to hear or 
heed the wail of lamentation which comes np 
from the Iiovels of the poor and unoffending, 
or to avail himself of every honoraSle means 
to Btay the further effusion of blood, ia a 
wretch unfit to live and too base to die. If 
asked how I would stop the war, in a manner 
honorable to my country, I would answer, 
cease robbing whole communities, cease your 
vandal attempt to melt all mankind of every 
rawe, color, and condition into one crude, inor- 
ganic mass ; cease to spurn the counsels of 
tho Union men of tho rebellious States ; cease 
to place them upon a footing with traitors and 
rebels ; cease to regard nou-corabatants, wo- 
men and children, as alien enemies, fit only 
to plundered. Place your armies under tho 
control of those who war only upon armed 
enemies, and who will make the Hag of your 
country a sure protection to all who, during 
the long night of rebellion, have so eagerly 
watched its coming. Let your only object in 
in lighting be, and so declare it to the world, 
to put down rebellion, restore all the Istates 
to the Union, protect and defend the Consti- 
tution with all its guarantees. Let your Presi- 
dent annul those proclamations which stamp 
him as a usurper, and offer amnesty and par- 
don in good faith to all who will lay down 
their arms and take an oath to support, not 
his free- negro proclamations, but the Consti- 
tution of tho United States. Do this, and be- 
fore the breath of spring has melted the ice 
from your Northern lakes, the armies of re- 
bellion will have melted away. Such a result 
is foretold by all who are famili<ir with the 
temper and feelings of the people of the South, 
no less than by all the teachings of history. 
England has tried for centuries to anglicize 
Ireland by the hand of political and religions 
inequality ; the result is that the Irish as a 
class are as alien to England as they were one 
hundred years ago. For ages Russia hag pur- 
sued a similar policy in regard to Poland; the 
result is tha^ all Europe is at this moment con- 
vulsed because the first military Power of the 
world cannot learn that tho prejudices of a 
whole people can be remoyed only by confi- 
dence, forbearance, and respect. Sir, it is not 
to considerations of humanity alone that I look 
in urging upon you a total ch£.nge of the pol- 
icy which animates our rulers in the conduct 
of the war. I have said that tho fate of the 
nation is involved ; that the perpetuity of tho 
Union and the liberties of the people of the 
North are imperiled. I know how difficult it 
is to reach the ear of the President or touch 
the understanding of his advisers. While all 
military operations are suspended and our ar- 
mies compelled to remain inactive because of 
tho rigors of winter, the White House is b«- 



12 



eieged Vy an army of ofScials whose surest 
passport to promotion is a blind and slavish 
admiration of him who dispenses power and 
patrona.^e. He hears nothing but from syco- 
phants ; heeds nothing which is not lautlatory 
of his greatness ; reads nothing but fulsome 
praises of his administrative abilities, and 
hearkt^ns to no counsel which does not assure 
him of a re-election. To such an extent does 
this mania for reelection control him, that 
only a few evenings since he attended a model 
artist's exhibition in this Hall, at which an 
anscxcd woman nominated him for re elec- 
tion. It was done in his personal presence, 
amid the applause of the ladies and gentle- 
men, courtesans and contractors, parasites 
and placemen, then and there assembled. 
While onr sentinels were freezing at thrir 
posts ; while brothers were perishing by slow 
degrees in a hostile conflict, rendered doubly 
appalling by the fury of the elements, the 
Chief Magistrate of the country was in at- 
tendance at a political "Canterbury," where 
the chit- f and most ludicrous act was his own 
nomination for re-election. The performance 
being uuiqae, of course the attendance was 
large. The chief political danseiise proposed 
the name of Abraham Lincoln, as previously 
arranged ty tho managers, and all the attaches 
said yea, as they thought of their days of 
lengthened official repose in Abraham's bosom. 
Every cloud is said to have a silver lining, 
and the worst of evils not to he wholly insepa- 
rable from good ; and should the people again 
elect "the honestest man in Springfield" to 
the Presidency, may we hope for some change ! 
in the /3e/-soime/ of the Government? The brave ' 
and intrepid Sumner may yet command the '■ 
array of the Potomac ; Fred. Douglas may yet ' 
succeed the irrepressible Seward ; while the ' 
"political woman" may be installed as grand ' 
inspector of the royal household. Doubtless ! 
when a few more strong-minded women have j 
gathered around the Capitol the avt-nnc will 
emit a sweeter fragrance, quite as delightful I 
as the odor of the Presidential mansion on | 
New Year's day, when greasy negroes were 
presented to the President amid the blandest I 
smiles of their fair countrywomen of Ameri- ; 
can descent. What American citizen who wit- i 
uessed the animating scene did not rejoice at 1 
the rapid social progress the country has made 
under the rule of Abraham the First I Our 
colored friends, who under former adminis- [ 
trattons dared not obtrude themselves at the 
White House, are now allowed to be gallant 
to the estimable ladies of high officials, while 
that high functionary, the President, looks ap- 
provingly upon the bewitching scene. Amid 
so many gay and festive scenes as are daily 
transpiring at the White House, it is unrea- 
sonable to expect that the President can be- 
stow much attention upon public affairs. The 
crowds of daily visitors, male and female, 
black and white, are so largo and continuous 
that his Excellency's time is chiefly consum- 
ed in thanking tho ditferent delegations who 
are sent to invoke bis acceptance of a second 



I ofiScial term. With his surrounding.?, it can- 
not be expected that he will hear or heed 
those who believe that his re-eleciion will be 
the greatest calamity which can befall onr 
country. Where he disposed to give thought 
or attention to the mutterings of fearful ap- 
prehension and discontent which are audible 
throughout the North, I would commend to 
him the words of Sir Francis Bacon, who, 
whatever else he might have been, was the 
profonndest thinker of his age. Said he : 

"As for discontents, they are in the body politic 
like to humors ia the natural, which are apt to 
gather a preternatural heat and to inflame, • and 
let no prince measure the danger of tLem by this 
whether they be just or unjust, for that were to ima- 
gine people to bo to» reasonable, who do often 
spurn at their own good ; not yet by this, whether 
the griefs whereupon they rise be in fact great or 
small, for they are the most dangerous discon- 
tents where the fear is greater than the feel- 
ing. DoLENDi MODUS TiME.siu Nox ITEM. Besides, 
in great cppressions the same things that provoke 
the patience do withal mote the cuurage, but in 
foarj it is not so. Neither let any prince or state 
he secure concerning discontentments because they 
have been often or have been long, and yet no 
peril hath ensued ; for, as it is true that every va- 
por or fume doth not return into a storm, so it ia 
nevertheless true that storms, though they do blow 
over divers times, yet may fall at last, and, as the 
Spanish proverb notelh well, 'Tho cord breaketh 
at last by tho weakest pull.' " 

I will not assume that the President is one 
of those who can neither learn nor forget any- 
thing. He has learned boldness as a usurper, 
and how to be false to his pledges. But, if I 
may be permitted to appeal to the selfishness 
of his peculiar admirers, I would suggest that 
a further continuation of war in a manner 
which involves unnecessarily such vast es- 
penditurcs of life and treasure, is not the 
surest way to perpetuate power; and those 
who have so suddenly acquired fortunes by 
availing themselves of the public calamities 
might pause to ask if peace will not more 
surely secure their present gains than war add 
an increase of store. There is a point of en- 
durance beyond which even nations cannot 
go — a precipice which they cannot safely ap- 
proach. I fear we are already standing at its 
verge, beyon4 which the yawning gul f of social 
and financial ruin awaits us till. A people 
hitherto unaccustomed to taxation, with no 
knowledge of a public debt but traditionary 
horror of its miseries, is suddenly called upon 
to confront a national indebtedness of over two 
thousand millions I These figures are start- 
ling, yet the sum is increasing at the rate of 
more than two millions per day, presaging in- 
evitable paralysis and bankruptcy to all. No 
interest is too great, no industry too small, 
no investment too secure, to escape ihe storm 
which is gathering and impending over us. 
The annual interest upon our public indebted- 
ness, at six per cent, per annum, will amount 
to over one hundred and twenty millions — 
nearly twice the amount of the ordinary an- 
nual estimates of the expenses of the Govern- 



13 



ment nnrler former Administrations, nearly , I prefer that time shall nnfolJ to them the 
double the suet of our annual average txpcn- , sullerings and indignities which they are yet 



ditnrea durirn; thw Administration which 
waged ib.n war with Mexico. If we grant that 
this indt"t)tcdnes3 has been neccHsary or un- 
aTOidable, thw figures still stare us in the face, 
BUggesti7« of a future iiuancial crisis which a 
WISH stdtesiiianship wnu'd Heck to palliate or 
avoid, llijw this in my judgment can beat be 
done, I have indicated in wliat I have already 
Baid. Whiit disasters your policy will force 
upon the country I ahall not attempt to por- 
tray. Von :;eem not to bo wholly insensible 
to the d.iu^t r, though you have mani.'cdted 
your nufi'ue.-is for meeting or avoiding it. 

Trne, you may for a while delude yonr 
victims l)y piiutingto the abundance of money 
which is serlcing investment, stimulating the 
marts of buMueas and enlivening the avenues 
of trade ; but a day of those panics which 
logically follow inllated is.-^ues of paper, and 
which feed upon the fears of commerce and 
industry, will remove the delusion. Then 
the people will learn that money is not mere 
promises to p;iy ; that wealth consists not in 
what they own tticmseh es ; and that the ele- 
vation of the negro to social and political 
equality with the whites is a poor equivalent 
for national b.inkruptcy, repudiation and ruin. 
For days and weeks your ingenuity has been 
sortly tried iu devising some mode by which 
immense sums of additional taxation may be 
wrung from the pockets of a hitherto uncom- 
plaining people. I'vVery step you have taken 
bat disclosed the magnitude of the amounts 
already expended, and the additional sums 
you propose to squander. Taxes heretofore 
imposed with caution, and submitted to re- 
iHctactly by the people, are now to be doubled 
and quadrupled. Labor which only staggered 
under blows hitherto inflicted, is soon to be 
paralyzed by increased burdens ; prices which 
have advanced articles of necessity to the 
poor almost beyond their reach, are to be 
pushed to the point which wiiolly prohibits 
them ; while gold, the only true representa- 
tive of values, is to bo banished from the 
country, or hoarded until bankruptcy shall 
have left the labor and industry of our once 
happy land to the mercies of the miser and 
his capital. The full details of your mam- 
moth sc-hcmes of taxatioa cannot now be 
known ; but the country may rest assured 
that every interest will seon feel the shock of 
your inexorable demands. While their sons 
and brothers are being unwillingly dragged 
into the Army by a more rigorous conscrip- 
tion, or forced to give their all to avoid its 
requirements, an army of i'o/un?fi?r tax-gather- 
ers is being organized for a campaign through- 
out the free States of the North. There is 
not a conscript or private among them. Each 
is a veteran volunteer ; each carries the com- 
mission and wears the badge of his master. 
Already they are beginning to hover around 
the cabin-i of the poor. As carrion birds in- 
Btiactivcly seem their prey, so they can dis- 
cern from ai'ar the pittance of the poor. Uat 



to endure. I pray they may have the courage 
and the patriotism to feel that their country 
demands the sacrifice they are sowu to make. 
History, while it teaches that its laws are, in 
the main, general and unerring, has recorded 
certain apparent exceptions. To thfsc cxoep- 
lions we are apt to recur as safe prec«dent8 
when the logic of events begins to expose oar 
fallacies. In my judgment those who regard 
a public debt so enormous as ours as a public 
blessing, or who effect to see no danger in at- 
tempting to wring from the people the bur- 
dens which your taxation impo-ses, will find 
themselves mistaken. England, which for 
ages has ground her poor to pay the expenses 
of ambitious ministcrij, has suddenly become 
a model government with mwiy of thft sup- 
porters of this Administration, while, in 
Dixie, the adherent* of Davis have discovered 
that a limited monarchy is the best guarantor 
of constitutional freedom. Whatever Eng- 
land may now be, this we know, that she has 
attained her present position by protracted 
wars and oppressive taxation ; and if you who 
boast of England as a model of good govern- 
ment will only inform our people of the road 
she has traveled, and point them to the priva- 
tions of her poor, I shall have increased con- 
liilence in the future good fortunes of my 
country. Sidney Smith, whose name alone 
suggests to all intelligent men who and what 
he was, left nothing more valuaV'le to man- 
kind than his picture of the costs of war and 
the expense of national glory. This is what 
he tells us of the condition of Englishmen &a 
a consequence of war and taxation. AddreSB- 
ing himself directly to Americans, he said: 
'■ Wo can inform Druthcr Jonathan what are the 
inevitable conS'^(|vience3 of being too foud of glory. 
'Taxes' upon every article which enters into the 
mouth, or covers the back, or is placed under the 
foot ; taxes upon everything whiib it is pleasant to 
see, hear, feci, smell, or taste ; taxes upon warmth, 
light, and locomotion ; taxes on everythin;; on earth 
and the waters under the earth, on everything that 
comes from abroad, or is grown at home; faxca on 
the raw material ; taxes on every fresh value that 
is added to it by the industry of man ; taxes on the 
sauce which pampers man's appetite, and the drug 
th.it restores him to health; on the crmino which 
decorates the judge, and the rope which hangs the 
criminal ; on the poor man's salt and the rich man's 
spico ; on the brass nails of the cofBn and the rib- 
bons of the bride; at bed or boar<l, couchaiit or le- 
vant, we must pay. The schoolboy wbi;i8 his taxed 
top; the beardless youth manages his taxed horra 
with a taxed bridle, on a faxed road ; and the dy- 
ing Englishman pouring his medicine, which has 
paid seven per cent., into a spoon that has t>aid fif- 
teen per cent., flings himself back upon his chints 
bed, which has paid twenty-two per cent., and ex- 
pires in the arms of an ap^uhccary who has (.cid k 
liecnso of one hundred pounds for the iriviloge of 
pnttin<^ him to death. His whole property is then 
immediately ta';ed froTU two to ten per cent. Be- 
sides tiio probate, large fees are demanded fir bury- 
ing iiira in the cbanccl; his virtues arc handed 
down to posterity on taxed marble; and he i.< thtB 
gathered to Lis fathers— to bo taxed no more." 



14 



Sir, none of us would have supposed fonr 
years apo that this picture of misery and op 
pressicn would be so pood presented to u« a? 
a terrible reality. But it is so. Korwilltliis 
generation live to «ee the shackles of taxation 
Btricken from their limbs. Far off in thp dis 
tant future, generations yet unborn will be- 
wail the load of debt which is being entailed 
upon them by the madness of the times. I 
implore you in their name to retrace your 
Bteps, and that you listen to the voice of those 
who point you to the Constitution as the only 
road wiiich leads to a lasting Union and a 
permanent peace. Adherence to that instru- 
ment will speedily end this terrible war; it 
will secure and perpetuate the public repose. 
The friends of the Constitution look con5- 
dently to the approach of the November elec- 
tions. Upon the result we stake the life of 
the Constitution, the perpetuation of empire. 
The armies of the Democracy are ready for 
the conflict. Their numbers already may be 
counted by millions. Whatever is the past 
their faults and errors may have been, they 
never oppressed the citizen or usurped doubt- 
ful or forbidden powers. Their past conflicts 
with the enemies of constitutional union will 
reanimate every heart and nerve the weakest 
arm. Their past history in warring against 
despotism and usurpation is a guaranty that 
they will not abuse power intrusted to them 
by the people. They will recognize as broth- 
ers all who vindicate the Constitution and 
cling to that Union which it made. Though the 
terrible convulsions of the times have driven 
many of its Southern leaders into the armies 
of rebellion, though many of its once-honor- 



ed chieftains in the North have yielded, like 
Judas, to the temptations of power, and are 
now among the basest of the vi-nnl tribe, that 
grand old party has lost nothing of its ancient 
prestige or moral powr. It? expurgation has 
been thorough, its purification complete. Its 
Butlers, Dickinsons, Busteeds, and Milroys, 
of the North, its treasonable leaders of the 
South, no longer defile the temple, sacred to 
the true defenders of the Constitution. In 
their place we have all that was most r-ispecta- 
ble of the old-line Whigs, those who still 
cherish the teachings of their illustrious lead- 
ers, Webster and Clay. Honest Republicans 
will rally around our standard ; and even the 
Know-Nothings — those who atfected to trem- 
ble at the power of the Pope — will eagerly 
join that party which, in upholding the Con- 
stitution, secures freedom of conscience to all. 
Already they have learned that there is more 
to be feared from the unlicensed power of 
usurpation at home than from all the bulls 
which ever emanated from the Papal See. I 
say to the friends of Constitutional Union 
everywhere : Be of good cheer. Ilope illu- 
mines the future. The prize for which we 
contend is no less than the Constitution which 
our fathers ordained. It has borne us safely 
and securely amid the dangers of the past ; 
if we are true to ourselves now we will res- 
cue it from the hands of its destroyers, and, 
bearing it aloft everywhere, we will point to 
its pure and ample folds as the only harbin- 
ger of peace, the sole bond of union among 
the States, the last citadel in which the citi- 
zen may find security and defy the oppressor's 
, power. 



\. 



PKOSPECTUS FOR THE KEW YEA' 



THE CONSTITUTIONA.L XJNIOI^r, 

An Independent, National, Metropolitan Daily and Weekly Democratic Conservative 
Union Newspaper for the critical year and eventful Presidential Campaign of 1864 ; the 
Bold and Fearless Defender of Constitutional Iiiberty I 

Devoted earnestly to the maintenance of the Constitution as it is, and the restoration of 
the Union as it was — the only National Democratic Union Newspaper published in the 
city of Washington. 

The "Constitutional Union" has won, since its ostablishment, the heartiest approval 
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desires to enlarge the field of its operations by an increase in its subscription liot and a 
more extended circulation, he is cn'-ouraged in the belief that it may be made a means of 
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which, in its inscrutable wisdom, Providence has committed to the National Conserva- 
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cxtiro Freedom of Speech, and a free and untrammcled ballot for the people, unawed and 
undismayed by the intervention of bands of armed men at the polls. 

Every arbitrary and lawless act, whether of tlie Administration, of the General Gov- 
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deserves, while their continued encroachments upon the personal and civil liberty of the 
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■\Vc propose at this time, and earnestly urge the suffering and oppressed people all over 
the h'.ud, to organize themselves at once into Constitutional Clubs and Associations, so 
that, being thoroughly united, by the force of the Constitutional Ballot, the 

• • " Weapon snrrr set, 

An J better tliaii tho bayonet.'' 

and in promoting the increased circulation of the Democratic Conservative Newspaper 
we i.^sue, there maj- be aroused the now latent spirit of American FreemLi to an open 
issue at the ballot-box with the usurpers of their rights, so as to with cert!..uty secure, 
by a constitutional victory at the polls, a restoration of law and order in the administra- 
tion of the Government, and the election in the autumn of 18G4 of a President of the 
United States who will faithfully and constitutionally administer the duties of his great 
office. 

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*T1^±'£1 TVEEKLY CONSTITXJXIOIVAIL. XJJVIOIX. 

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the Iiearthstonc and in the family of every conservative man in the Union. It may be had, 
considering the enormous price of paper and increased cost of labor and materials, at .» 
very cheap rate, as the scale of prices will show. We suggest the union of effort amonj,- 
friends to form Clubs, by which a large reduction in the price of the paper is attained. 

OUU TERMS FOR CLUBS : 

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J6f SPECIMEN COPIES will be sent to the address of any one who may desire them. 

All 8ub3cri')tion3 to be invariably in advance. Address 

THOMAS n. FLOrvENCR, 
LIBRPRY OF CONGRESS ^^^ ^ '''''^' Washington, D. C. 



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